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C hris skirted around Levi and Ryan and ran to the sliding door just off of the kitchen that opened into the backyard.

Lily and Max went flying through the gate just as he stepped outside.

“Fuck,” he muttered and shut the door.

Returning to the hallway where the bodyguard was still holding a gun on Ryan, Chris stopped near Levi.

“You shot the ceiling.” Ryan sounded shocked, clenching a pencil for dear life. What a fucking loser, Chris sneered.

“The next one goes in your head,” Levi warned Ryan, who stared wide-eyed at the gun.

Shane and Sara stood huddled together at the end of the hallway.

Chris pulled the gun he’d taken from Blake’s apartment and slammed the butt of it against the back of Levi’s head.

It was a hard blow; he didn’t pull his punches. A bullet fired from Levi’s gun and this time, the bullet punched into Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan screamed and toppled backward, slamming into the wall.

Levi slumped to the floor and Ryan rolled on the carpet gasping for breath.

Sara screamed and slapped her hands over her mouth and Chris hated that he had been with her just to get close to Lily.

Chris moved toward Sara and Shane. “Drop your phones in the hall and get back in your rooms.”

Ryan lay staring up at Chris, choking. “What the fuck?”

“My phone is on the nightstand,” Sara whispered, her tormented gaze moving from him to Ryan and then to Levi.

“Mine too,” Shane said.

“Pick him up and get in that room.” Chris waved the gun at both of them. They lifted Ryan and helped him into Shane’s room.

Chris took Shane’s phone from the nightstand. They sat Ryan on the bed and huddled there together.

“I’m going to be out there,” Chris said as if they were having a normal conversation. “If you come out or go out the window, I’ll shoot you all in the head. So I suggest you stay put.”

Leaving the room, he closed the door and collected Sara’s cell phone, then Ryan’s, and also the bodyguard’s. He took Levi’s gun and tucked it into the back of his pants before placing the other one in his pocket.

He probably had minutes before the cops came. When the text message came from Max to Levi’s phone, Chris smiled.

First, he’d need to leave the scene.

Next, he’d text and get their location.

Max gave a sigh of relief when a text message finally came in from Levi.

“All good here. It was Ryan.”

“Anybody injured?” Max fired back.

“Just Ryan. Give me your location.”

Max stared at the message.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.

He cleared his throat and placed his phone face down on his thigh.

“Roger,” he said to the driver. “Can you drop Lily off at her grandfather’s and take me back to Sara’s house?”

“No!” Lily hissed fiercely.

“Yes,” Roger said firmly and floored the car.

“I want to stay with you.”

“I know, but you can’t. I need to do my job and I can’t be worried about you and do what I need to do.”

Lily searched his eyes, the worry clear on her beautiful face. She grabbed his hand and hung on tightly and when Roger raced into the driveway, she turned to him.

“Be careful,” she said with a harsh whisper. “You better come back.”

“I will,” he said.

“That’s a promise I’m holding you to. If you don’t come back to me, we’re done.”

He knew she didn’t mean it, he could tell that she had spoken out of fear. Max pulled Lily close and held her tightly before pushing her away. She opened the door and Jethro was there taking her arm. Her eyes clung to his, even when she shut the car door and Roger pulled back out of the driveway, Max could see her standing there.

Waiting for him.

He would come back to Lily because she was the center of his universe.

And only death could keep him from her side.

Lifting his phone, Max sent a text to Levi’s phone number. And it was just a phone number because at this point, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that it was Levi on the other end.

“We will be at Discovery Park.”

Then, Max shot a message to William.

“William, check in.”

His phone rang in the next second.

“Talk to me,” Max growled.

“Sorry, Boss, the cops got here the same time as me, it was a nightmare. But the stalker is Chris. He knocked out Levi and Levi’s gun discharged and put a bullet in Ryan. Chris took everybody’s cell phones,” William said loudly over the Police radio noise filling the background of the phone.

“Is Ryan dead?” Max asked.

“He’s on his way to Harborview Medical struggling for his life.”

“Shit,” Max muttered.

“Where’s Lily?”

“Safe at her grandfather’s. That place is a fortress.”

“Chris is at large,” William said.

“He sent me a text from Levi’s phone and asked for my location.”

“So, what’s the plan?” William said.

“Here’s what we are going to do.”

Max, with Leo at his side, entered Discovery Park off the boulevard.

It took him six minutes to hike from parking to the white and red building of West Point Lighthouse.

Max didn’t worry about being seen because the whole park was dark. It was 3 AM and the park wouldn’t open for another hour for early morning hikers.

Max figured the lighthouse might be the best place to meet since it was all the way out on the coast, but after half an hour passed, Chris still hadn’t arrived.

To save time, William had driven his jeep from Sara’s house and met Max halfway. Right then, William sat in that jeep, keeping watch over the parking lot.

To make this plan work, Chris had to think that Max and Lily were meeting him alone.

Max would excuse her absence by telling Chris that Lily was using the public restroom.

But…

Chris never showed up.

The closer the hour came to 4 AM, the more people arrived.

A man came down the trail with a headlight on his helmet. Stretching his arms high, the guy swung them wide, doing some basic warmups before he started a slow jog down the trail.

Leo was sitting on his haunches near his feet and when Max stepped off of the path and stayed still, so did the dog. Max made sure the man’s light wouldn’t reach him or Leo. The last thing he needed was to be spotted.

The hiker must have been obsessed with running or hiking to be out there that early in the morning. Max grimaced. He was in good shape, but he needed at least one cup of coffee and daylight before he did any type of workout. Perhaps the hiker was here for the sunrise? He doubted it.

Max glanced at the sky. It wasn’t even close to daylight yet, but even during the winter months, people were going to start showing up when the park opened at 4 AM.

The more people that came, the more Max’s concern grew. It could be a big problem if Chris used an innocent passerby as a shield.

With Leo here, though, that wouldn’t fly. The dog would take down Chris before he could hurt anyone.

But Chris had a gun and Max wouldn’t risk his dog getting shot. He’d been down that road before. One night, a bullet from enemy fire had grazed Leo. Thankfully, the dog’s recovery had been brief.

“Anything?” William’s voice came through Max’s earpiece, bringing his attention back to the park.

“Not yet.”

“Something’s off, Boss.”

“Yeah, but what?”

With Leo at his side, Max started walking back toward where William waited in the jeep.

“What the hell are we missing?” William muttered.

Max was thinking the same damned thing and pulled his phone to call Lily.

When it went straight to voicemail, his blood turned cold.

“Does Chris know where Lily’s grandfather lives?”

“Maybe? I don’t know, but she wouldn’t let him in,” William insisted, but then hesitated. “Would she?”

“She might if she doesn’t know Chris is her stalker.”